SerpensCoS Member
Registered: 11/05/04
Posts: 125
Loc: Western New York

Anton LaVey held that "Satanists are born, not made." I wish to question those more versed in Satanic philosophy than myself about how strongly this belief is held.

My internet research came upon this snippet:

"Anton LaVey said many times that Satanists are born, not made. Testimony to this is the large number (the majority) of Satanists who did not need to be taught Satanism, who did not need to be converted, tutored or schooled in Satanism in order to comprehend it. Many Satanists, upon coming in to contact with the items in the above list instantly convert. The most frequent testimony of conversion to Satanism is "I read The Satanic Bible and I already believed everything it said, so I called myself a Satanist. This is perhaps one of the reasons that there is little proselytising in Satanism. If a person does not convert after being showed the basics the chances are Satanism simply isn't for them. There is rarely any point in trying to convince a person to accept Satanism if they do not automatically understand it. Proselytisation of those who are not born Satanists feels like a waste of time. Satanism is understandable to non-Satanists, but non-Satanists will not in general be converted through knowledge or understanding of Satanism. Whatever demonic traits a person needs in order to accept Satanism seem to be more nature than nurture. Born, not made."

An Objectivist that I voluntarily debated with dismissed all of this as bunk, stating that it "was stupid to believe that the contents of a man's mind are determined by genetics." I disagree with him. He seems to be saying that "since you and I do not know that this is the case, it is not so."

My question is; does Satanism hold that whether or not a person has a "Satanic" personality is dependent on genetics as an objective and de facto, or is it more a commonly-accepted hypothesis? Does proof exist? Or have I missed the proverbial dart board entirely and stuck my dart into the wall?